of shared information... ♪ into a fifth anniversary of remission? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. good evening from washington. i'm john king reporting live from the national mall. >> and good evening, everyone, i'm erin burnett. hundreds of thousands of americans are going to join the ones you see here gathering to watch presidential barack obama to take the ceremonial oath of office. >> the big public events are tomorrow. the president, though, officially began his second term at noon today, six hours ago, on this, january 20th, as required, of course, by the united states constitution.

chief justice john roberts administered the oath at the white house. >> please raise your right hand and repeat after me. i barack hussein obama do solemnly swear. >> i barack hussein obama do solemnly swear. >> that i will faithfully execute. >> that i will faithfully execute. >> the office of president of the united states. >> the office of president of the united states. >> and will to the best of my ability. >> and will to the best of my ability. >> preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the united states. >> preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the united states. >> congratulations, sir. >> tomorrow he's going to do it again in front of the capitol for all to see and followed by the parade. i really like how they coordinated their clothes today. >> they did coordinate their clothes. >> they did. the tie was good. >> and they got the oath right.

>> which was a change from last time around. >> they didn't have to redo the oath today. now, of course, into the evening hours attention turning to events scheduled tomorrow and of course big questions about what the president will say to set the policy agenerda and the ton in his inaugural speech. dan lothian, what do we know about the speech and what the president wants to tell the american people? >> reporter: we're told by those familiar with the president's remarks that this will not be a policy speech but rather he will make it sort of a hopeful plea, talk about the reality that here in washington you can't settle every debate, but that you can look for areas of common ground. and this is a big difference from 2009 when the president came into office talking about changing the way that washington works and ran into the reality up on capitol hill. so he'll touch on that, touch on some of the challenges that the country faces as he moves forward on some key issues such as gun control, immigration reform, tries to deal with the debt ceiling. and finally, we're told that the

president will push to get the public engaged, engaged in their community, engaged in the issues to put pressure on congress to move the president's initiatives forward, john. this is seen as sort of the stage one or the act one, part two will be the president's state of the union address where he'll add more details to his proposals. >> you split it into acts there, dan, appropriate because we saw the president today, the swearing-in ceremony, but because this is a sunday, we saw him only briefly in the blue room. how has he been spending the rest of the day, and what are his plans for this evening? >> reporter: this evening within this hour, the president will be heading to the building museum for a candlelight reception there. he will be making remarks, but much of the day, you know, was quite busy earlier in the day, then had some down time. the president's still working on his speech. we're told that he's in the final stages. he did a lot of it on his own, longhand on those yellow pads. he does have speechwriters working with him as well, and we're told that the president will be making some tweaks right

up until the last minute. perhaps the president also took in some football. i did reach out to an adviser. he did not have any details on that, whether he watched it or got an update on it. we know the president is a big sports fan, and i'm sure he's quite aware of what's going on. >> dan lothian at the white house. >> really? >> there's football today. >> wow, really? >> football. >> yeah. >> yeah. uh-huh. you're rooting for the right team in the late game, right? >> of course i am, the team that will emerge victorious, yeah, the ravens. >> the 49ers just won. so our fans in atlanta are a little disappointed by that. one little editorial comment? >> yes. >> go patriots. >> and he adores those patriots. that's going to be a big fight going on on this set tonight. the inauguration is the hottest ticket in town at least tomorrow. obviously this game will win out tonight. correspondent dana bash joins us. who is planning to be there and who isn't? which i know is a political statement in a political town.

>> what's fascinating is they built this platform, 1,600 seats are available on the platform. it is tradition for the supreme court justices to be there. they will be there for the joint chiefs of staff to be there. they will be there. and for governors, senators and lawmakers as well as, of course, members of the president and vice president's family. for the most part, we do expect lawmakers to be there. one thing that we were sort of looking at is whether house republicans are going to come. deirdre walsh, our house producer, was at the republican retreat last week. and she heard several members saying, you know, it's a long weekend, a holiday weekend. i'm going to go home. they didn't feel compelled to be here necessarily. we'll be watching to see that. this is traditionally a nonpartisan event. i don't even say bipartisan. this is a tribute to the system working. so it is a second inaugural, but still, there is a symbol in people going and not going. >> on that front, when you say that, recent tradition, at

least, right, the person who lost the election is supposed to be there. that would be mitt romney. >> yeah. >> no? >> he's not going to be there. i just checked before coming on to double check with a source close to romney who says that he, as far as they know, he didn't get an invitation. that he wasn't invited. you know, we're not -- we haven't had time to check that with the white house, but i think what we have been used to seeing are the rivals of presidents coming because they have positions of power that cause them to be here. for example, john mccain is a senator. john kerry who lost to george bush is a senator. al gore who lost, remember that just a little bit in 2000, he was the vice president, so he had to be there. and one other interesting note is that speaking of bush, george w. bush and george h.w. bush, father and son, neither will be here. george 41, the older, was in the hospital. he was just released. the younger said that he is not coming because he wants to be with his father. we know, covering george bush, he likes to stay low-key, and this is not the kind of thing

that he likes to come to for lots of reasons. last time he was here when he was departing the white house, it was mixed when you look at the public perception and the public reaction to it. but i think that, you know, he likes to stay out of the limelight even at traditional events like this. >> think about it. george h.w. bush was here for both reagan inaugurals, then his own inaugural, bill clinton's inaugural. i'm not sure we had a bush at the second inaugural. both were governors. the bush name has been around a lot. >> since 1997. >> and that clinton name. >> that clinton name, yeah. who says we don't have dynasties in american politics? up next, a look at what's to come over the president's next four years from a woman who was one of his closest advisors during his first term. ♪ ♪

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this hour four years ago, melody barnes was six hours into her new job as the president's top domestic policy adviser. well, she left the obama white house about a year ago. she's with us now on inauguration day here on the national mall. melody, four years ago, it was history. it was hope. it was change. as this president begins the second term, still a sluggish economy, a polarized political environment, what is the number one challenge as he prepares to

address the american people tomorrow? >> well, i still think it is about the hope of the american people, and it is still historic, the second inauguration of this president. but at the same time, obviously, it's going to be working with congress to get the economy moving, moving forward in terms of the big initiatives that the president considers to be so important with regard to immigration reform, implementation of health care reform and making sure that everybody has an opportunity, has a shot at the american dream. >> you mentioned health care reform. you know, republicans would say he did that first last time. he got in our face. that ruined the environment. i know each side blames the other side. i don't want to revisit history, but as the president picks his order this time, republicans have, for example, shown a willingness to work on immigration. should he do immigration before gun control, try to cooperate before confrontation? >> well, i think the president is going to move forward and see this as a walk and chew gum moment. he's going to do the things that are so necessary for both the american economy and the american people. and the decision to move forward

with gun control obviously comes out of the tragedy that took place in newtown, but also because of the many, many tragedies that have taken place in communities around the country. and obviously, the issue with regard to immigration reform is one of moving our economy forward as well as the moral issues that surround ensuring that we've got high-skilled immigration, but we also are moving people out of the shadows into american civic society. >> what about the cabinet? you were -- obviously you're a female, you're african-american, right? >> yes. >> you've obviously been looking at this, and you know him very well personally. one thing that has stood out so far is the sort of power positions have all gone to white men, defense, treasury, state. they're all going to white men. so is this -- is he going to put women in other positions? and what's it going to take to get a woman in one of those big power spots? >> well, i think we're going to have to look at the picture as a whole when the president is done. having served this president, knowing the women who have

served him who are still there today, these are extremely influential, powerful women with a strong voice with regard to what's going on on a day-to-day basis. but we can't make a decision and a determination until the full picture comes to be. and i would also say that when you look at the issues, homeland security, janet napolitano, making sure health care reform is implemented. kathleen sebelius. the list goes on. there are very, very smart, very influential women already in his cabinet and i know are going to be there. >> the second term is when that "l" word, legacy, comes into play. you're a veteran of this white house and also a veteran of working in the capitol behind us for senator kennedy and others. has this president had a conversation with his team where he says we must establish my legacy as or is that just a word that presidents avoid? >> no, he comes to work every day thinking about what has to be done to ensure the security of the american people and to ensure the opportunity for all american people. so his decisions about what to tackle, how to tackle it, what's

important really are rooted in those kinds of thoughts. it's not about legacy. legacy will be determined by historians and others in the years to come. he's trying to get the job done right now. >> melody, thanks very much. we appreciate it. good to see you. >> good to see you, too. it's a pleasure. thank you. >> the focus this weekend, the entire focus here, has been on the inauguration, of course. your town has been overrun, john. >> my town. it's not your town? >> i guess it's kind of my town, too. i grew up near here. >> new york, it's the same country. we're all americans tonight, erin. of course, it is the next four years the president is thinking about tonight. the problems, potential pitfalls and how to bring together a kun country and congress that is sometimes deeply divided. we'll talk about that next. oh! progress-oh! [ female announcer ] with 40 delicious progresso soups at 100 calories or less, there are plenty of reasons people are saying "progress-oh!"

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president obama today has been sharing the spotlight with dr. martin luther king jr. just before the president's swearing-in, president obama and his family attended a church service celebrating king and his legacy. and tomorrow's swearing-in coincides with the national observed holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader. when president obama takes the oath of office, he will use a bible that belonged to dr. king. also today president obama and vice president joe biden honored the nation's fallen soldiers during a wreath-laying ceremony at arlington national cemetery. this is an inauguration day

tradition which took place shortly after the vice president was sworn in which also happened this morning. >> with the beginning of that, we're now 6:15, 17 minutes to be exact into term two. change has come for the new administration, a newly shuffled cabinet, headless al qaeda overseas but trouble in north africa at the moment, suddenly touchy subject of gun reform coloring nearly every page of the domestic agenda. here to discuss the second term with gloria borger and david gergen. david, as a veteran of both republican and democratic white houses, we've watched the republicans blame the president for the poisoned environment. the president and the democrats blame the republicans. he's the president, the singular leader. no matter who's to blame or how they share the blame, what does he need to do out of the box to say, let's try to make these four years different? >> it's a hard question, john. i think he's got to make a choice. i thought he would start off in a much more bipartisan way, the way he did last time. but he used the transition, of course, to issue some rather harsh attacks on republicans. and the question tomorrow is, which way is he going to choose

for the future? is he going to go back to the bipartisanship, or is he going to give a kind of speech that franklin roosevelt did which he has studied for his second inaugural which was a pretty tough speech. >> and what's the first test in your view, john? whether the president -- he'll talk bipartisanship tomorrow, but will he act bipartisan? >> i mean, it's fascinating because some of the proposals he's made that have already come under fire, for example, reporting republican chuck hagel as secretary of defense has not gone over well with republicans, especially the neoconservative crowd. so that outreach which traditionally would be bridge building has actually in this environment created a lot of blowback. and the question is whether policy moves like immigration reform, can they really cobble together any kind of bipartisan coalition? bush backed it, but will it now mean republicans support it? >> when we're talking with melody barnes, does he pick gun control or immigration? gun control being an issue that's highly polarized. immigration where you've got

marko ruma marco rubio with ideas that jibe with the president. >> the thing about immigration, all democrats are united on it. the thing with gun control, the president has a problem in his own party on what to do. if i were advising the white house -- and i don't, but i talk to people who do work there -- i think they're looking at immigration sort of as a big early issue that they can get done. i think they want to do gun control. and i think a lot of them expect that they won't end up with everything they want, but they might end up with closing the gun show loophole, that kind of thing, universal background checks. but this is a president who understands that the republican party is unpopular right now. a recent poll had them at 25% or 26%, but he also has problems with his party. so he wants to divide them, move some of them over with the democrats, see what he can get there. >> yeah, i think that the easiest thing to break off would probably be a piece of gun control. that would be the background check, which gets 70% to 80%.

go ahead and get your victory and then leave it to the longer process to get the rest of it. >> forget the assault weapons ban? >> get something going on a bipartisan basis because otherwise very quickly you're going to run into all these budget fights. >> don't forget about that. we have the debt ceiling vote, whether it's coming at the end of february or three months later, that's looming. it's a major issue. it's nonoptional. and as david said, something like universal background checks, "washington post" poll showed 89% republicans support for. it won't translate into that level of support in congress. >> we're talking about domestic issues. clearly the president wants that to be his focus. he'd like to have a more robust recovery than the first term. again, we're often surprised. events overseas can capture the attention. the president wants to look to asia and china, but he's got a middle east in north africa that is unpredictable if not worse. how much, david, do you see the world intervening in the second term? >> a lot. and historically, it's intervened more and more partly because presidents have also

sort of invited that. >> yes. >> as domestic power has wound down, they've turned to the international side. but here suddenly north africa seems explosive. and i don't think the president, as much as he wants to pivot, i just don't think he can move away from it. it's not just benghazi. it's algeria, egypt, what's going on with netanyahu, probably going to have a new government, the iranian issue looming. >> he can't avoid it, but as you point out, second-term presidents often look abroad. >> yep. >> to establish a part of their legacy because after a couple of years, congress doesn't really care about you. you become a lame duck. you don't have enough -- you don't have as much power as you once used to have. he's got a small window here on domestic policy. so if he gets gun control or some part of it, he gets immigration reform, he did health care last time. you could argue that that's a pretty transformative presidency. you might. >> and you know, the question i think a lot of people have been looking for is does he try to

pull a nixon and china on entitlement reform? in the state of the union. there is that opportunity there. but with regard to north africa and mali, erin, you've been there outfront on that reporting. the other shoe in the arab spring is dropping, and this administration has to respond. >> you have defense secretaries switching and maybe the view switching, that there's a little bit of a gap and a black hole right now on dealing with some of those issues. >> i thought our colleague fareed zakaria wrote how john kerry and chuck hagel, two guys wary of projecting u.s. force overseas taking power at a time, the president has no choice here. it may be a smaller al qaeda or smaller terrorist threat, but it's bubbling up and it's unpredictable and in some ways harder to manage. >> every single player i've talked, from managers that work with forces to the african union to the french, even in the administration, they all believe that the united states will have to do more. france will not be able to solve this on their own.

this will be a big test. no inauguration is complete without a speech, of course. so what will the president address in his? we're going to ask two of his former campaign press secretaries. [ dad ] find it? ya. alright, another one just like that. right in the old bucket. good toss! see that's much better! that was good. you had your shoulder pointed, you kept your eyes on your target. let's do it again -- watch me. just like that one... [ male announcer ] the durability of the volkswagen passat. pass down something he will be grateful for. good arm. that's the power of german engineering. ♪ back to you. [ dad ] well, it's 141 million miles from the sun, so pretty far. why is it red? because its surface is made of iron oxide. why do they call it mars?

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challenge. jen, let's start with you. ladies first. >> thank you. >> after the 2008 election, the entire country had this history before us. there was this hopeful moment. we're in a very polarized town right now. what's the challenge for the president? >> well, one advantage, let me start with that, is coming out of election night or actually on election night, the president was really reflective on the fact that it felt sweeter. you know, he had to work harder for it. it was -- you know, nobody knew what was going to happen the day before even though we felt good. that gave him some real confidence going into his second term. but definitely, we're not facing an economic crisis, so that's an advantage. however, the country is divided. he knows he has to be creative about his path forward and if he wants to get things like immigration and gun control legislation reform done, he's got to figure out how to find coalitions and how to do it in a creative way. >> you know, bill, i'm curious, people have talked a lot about president obama as a gifted speaker which, of course, he is. but then people say, well, that first inauguration speech was not his best moment. he tried to do a whole lot of

different things. people say look, he tried to do so many different things that there wasn't that sort of one-lime memory that people get sometimes from inaugurals. will this one be different? more specific in more targeted? >> i think that people in this media environment really want to be able to pull a sound bite out and say this is the thing we are going to hang this whole speech on. this is what's going to define whether or not it's a great speech. and i think that the president, which we knew from the beginning of the last campaign, speaks in paragraphs, not in sound bites. you know, for better or for worse in some of the debates. i think this speech is going to be about talking directly with the american people about what is this moment and how can we actually still make progress even though the politics in washington seem so broken right now. >> to the point about politics being broken, a lot of democrats would say you have a divided republican party. step on it, mr. president, exacerbate the confrontation, pick issues that make them fight among themselves. is that what the president wants to do right now, or does the president almost need to reject some of the people in his own party for maybe a perfectly good

political reason, say go for it and step back and say no, we need to govern. >> i think tomorrow his audience isn't just republicans and democrats in washington. it's people watching at home who are a little disgusted by washington, we know that from the polls, but also want to hear a lifted-up vision for his second term. i think you'll hear that tomorrow when he speaks. yes, i think once you get through tomorrow, once you get through tuesday, he really is going to buckle down and focus on working with those republicans, working with those democrats, and that's an entirely different challenge. but tomorrow i think there will be a 10,000-foot high-level speech. >> jen makes a good point. the country is historically divided. if you look at even harry truman who the country was not crazy about when he was president, his approval rating went down to 35 after his second election, he went up to 69% approval. the president's only at 52% with his approval rating, which is a tiny bit higher than his popular vote total. so the president has a much tougher job than presidents have historically to try to unite this country and make some progress.

>> what do you make of what david gergen was talking about? he said look, last time when he started out, there was a bipartisan reach-out right away. this time at least what david was saying, at least what we've seen so far, has been far from that. it's sort of been well, look, on the debt ceiling, no, i'm not going to negotiate. not a reaching across. >> well, the problem here is that republicans have never really paid a price for their intransigence. and in the first term the president came out and said you know what? let's work with republicans on the stimulus. let's work with republicans on all these other things. almost nobody came to the table. mitch mcconnell said his number one job was to dweelt presidetw obama. this time around the president is more muscular in the way he's trying to attack problems and get things done. so i don't think there's room to just, you know, skirt around the issues. he knows that his job is just get things done. and even if the republicans aren't at the table, he's just got to keep trying. >> also that there's a clock ticking. not fair to any second-term president, but this town has a

six-year itch. democrats will be worried about midterms and then the 2016 thing starts. that 2016. >> it's pretty sad. you get four years and you really only get 18 months. something's wrong with the system. >> hopefully it's 18 months. >> well, there's no red carpet, but the pomp and circumstance of the inauguration has taken on, well, a hollywood feel, i think it's safe to say, john. >> hollywood, here in washington. coming up, we'll take you right where you want to see, inside one of the many inaugural balls. ♪ come on let your colors burst ♪ ♪ make 'em go ♪

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all right. this is a quintessential washington evening for an inauguration. we've got all these folks out here. and by the way, the weather's pretty darn nice right now. they're out here enjoying it and getting ready. and of course the balls and the music actually start now. washington, d.c., john, for one time every four years, is cool. >> this is the erin burnett national mall ball playing out behind us. the heroes, red white and blue

concert ball is about to start. and our brooke baldwin has the lucky honor of being at the theater where some southern rockers are tuning up as the attention is where it should be on the nation's military men and women. >> reporter: yeah, john, i don't know if you can see the red carpet over my shoulder. we're talking about a red carpet tonight for our men and women in uniform. not only for our men and women who are so bravely protecting us and serving this country, it's for their spouses, the husbands and wives and partners and for the kids tonight here at the warner theater in washington, d.c. you mentioned that southern rock band. you're talking lynyrd skynyrd. also some of the tuskegee airmen being honored. i want to bring in ken robinson, obviously highly decorated. nice to have you here on a cold d.c. night. you wear many hates, including theater advocate. who will be here? >> those who served.

a group of men and women who have been in afghanistan and iraq, who have been wounded, at walter reed, brought there by buses to come down in front and to participate in the event. the event is sponsored by citizens helping heroes. it's a 501c3, nonpartisan, and the purpose is celebrating the country's unique experience with inaugurations and peaceful transitions of power. and that is brought to you by service men and women who defend the country. >> reporter: ken, as we talk about celebrating and i was at the kids inaugural concert last night. it's a ton of fun, music, bands, red carpets. but once all this ends after the weekend, this is time to get down to business. tonight it's also really a call to action because they need jobs. we need to take that suicide rate down. how do you plan on doing that? >> awareness. there's going to be a grass-roots effort. it's going to happen in all 50 states. the veterans service organizations in america, and there's many, if you just type it into google, you can find them in your local area. and there's going to be a road show. the movie that's being shown

with a teaser in the hallway here tonight is called "the hornet's nest" about a father and a son who embedded in afghanistan for an entire year with the soldiers, living their life with them, sharing the hardships with them. and it's going to bring awareness back as to what it costs to protect lives and freedom. >> reporter: ken robinson, thank you very much. thank you for all you've done and so many amazing people here tonight. again, folks from walter reed, fort mead, walter reed. we'll be talking to them tonight. we'll bring you lynyrd skynyrd live. in fact, we're about to go interview them and an interesting sidenote, the lead singer endorsed romney this summer, but he's here performing at this inaugural concert. as ken said, this is republicans, democrats, this is all for the service men and women. back to you all. >> amen. amen to that. you know, this is traditionally a nonpartisan event. there's a little partisanship as we see about the second term and agenda, but all the troops out of iraq, they're coming home from afghanistan, some people think okay, it's over.

there are generational challenges facing these heroes, men and women, when they come home. any attention we can help focus on them, amen for that. >> indeed. >> the president's first inauguration was the largest event in washington's history. so what can we expect tomorrow? we're asking the man who planned all the festivities.

more than simply a swearing-in ceremony. the inauguration has grown into a celebration of what's best about this country and the fact that our democracy works peacefully and smoothly. >> democrat or republican. you have to celebrate that. this is a great historic moment. brett colbert is with us with the presidential inaugural committee. the constitution says the president must be sworn in, there's nothing about stevie wonder, nothing about balls, nothing even about parades. putting together the second obama inaugural. >> sure. >> the first one was histy. had they came to you and said, put it all together, did you say, not me? >> i was lucky enough to work on

the first one. this one's obviously a little different. second inaugurals tend to be smaller and different in tone. this is about looking back over the past four years as well as looking forward so see what's c coming. we had a great first day yesterday and obviously the big ceremonial day tomorrow. >> any firsthand, direct messages from the president in terms of make this event a little different? you haven't included -- i don't see whether it's enough children's events or military events? does he get personally involved? >> absolutely. him and the first lady as well. there are two events they were very much keen on keeping traditions they added. like you said, the only piece required by the constitution is the swearing-in that already took place at the white house today. the rest are traditions and have all been brought to the program by different presidents along the way. for instance, the commander in chief's ball tomorrow night is a tradition that george bush started. one of his favorite parts of the weekend. there are two big additions from the first family where the day of service that we did yesterday, they did that in '09.

we had tens of thousands of people across the country participate, sign up to give over 1 million hours of their time over the next year to volunteer. and then the children's concert last night for military families. a big extension of the first lady's work to support military families. i'm an arm brat mysey brat myse appreciate that. their families serve along with them. >> last time obviously the country was in economic freefall. it cost a lot of money. nearly $200 million, $270 million. there was criticism for that, but there were a couple million people here. this time obviously there aren't going to be as many, but we could have, who knows, right? 1 million. how much are you spending? >> we're not getting into numbers at this point. the budget is somewhat fluid, as you kind of put this car together as it's running down the track for two months, you've got to figure that out as you're going. so we'll have a better sense when we're done. it does cost quite a bit of money, but again, we feel this is an important moment for the country. and not just for the country as i think john was saying during

the break, this is a symbol to the world of how we transfer power here. how we work as a democracy, and it's a really great chance for people from across the country here in d.c. or in their hometowns watching at home to come together and really celebrate what we're about as a people. >> are you just the events coordinator or do you get involved in the back-and-forth -- a lot of republicans are saying i'm not going to come. does that fall under you? >> luckily i don't have to dole with deal with that directly. there's a group chaired by chuck schumer that's a bipartisan committee. the military, regardless of who won in november, and we really want this to be open to everybody regardless of party. it is really a nonpartisan moment for the country to come together, and we hope everyone will tune in tomorrow to hear what the president has to say. >> who ordered up the weather? >> look, if we can keep this going for another 24 hours, it will be the most blessed inaugural i've been a part of. >> john, you're wearing a coat, because i'm wearing a coat.

it's not actually that cold out here. it was for me. >> i'm a new england guy. you look cold, so i thought it must be getting cold. this is great. >> warmer than last time is what everyone's hoping for. >> it's like an electric blanket, you know? the man always has to decide on cold and the woman always has her side on warm. >> got it. >> i have nothing to add to that, i can tell you that. >> a wise man. i stay out of that one, too. that was a trap. >> that's right. >> how does public opinion of president obama at the start of his second term stack up against his predecessors? stay with us. we're going to show you next. excuse me, sir i'm gonna have to ask you to power down your little word game. i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see?

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welcome back to our special coverage of the second obama inauguration. trust me, folks, i sure wish you could listen to the conversation up here during the break. erin burr net, floor gloria bor. let's move to the political moment. americans are pretty well, you might say, split right down the middle over how things are going in the country as the president begins term two. and our new poll, 51% said

badly, 49% said well. but that figure, 49%, is more than double the 21% who thought things were going well at the time president obama delivered his first inaugural draegs. address. let's go back a few administrations for context. bill clinton started his second term, enjoyed the highest recent number of people who felt the country was in good shape on inauguration day. >> all right. let's get to gloria borger. i was writing down those numbers. john avlon and david gergen are also here. that's an interesting set of numbers. i would look at 49 in terms of approval, things like that, six, eight months ago as a big improvement. >> it is. and his personal likability is still over 61%. but what i'm looking at is the country's expectations. when president obama was first inaugurated, he became -- and a lot of his staffers will tell you this -- sort of a victim of the high expectations that the public had for him. now the expectations are kind of lower, so the folks in the

administration are saying, well, if the expectations are lower, maybe we can overperform a little instead of underperforming like people thought we did last time around. so they're kind of looking for the glass half full part of this. equation. >> one of the things going on beneath numbers indicates a sort of tsunami of hyperpartisanship that this administration has tried to operate in. it's a stark partisan divide. 76% of democrats thinks things are going well in the country. only 28% of republicans feel that way. so that is really a reminder of the divides at work. >> i think what we don't know right now, one of the big mysterie mysteries, is where this economy is truly going. we hear from a number of people like jamie dimon has been arguing, we get a grand bargain this economy will take off. a lot of people are saying it's going to take off anyway. on the other hand, most americans are not feeling that. >> right. >> and there's a distinctly different feeling about the economy. they think we're headed towards a recession. i thought peter hart put it well

the other day. we've gone from hoping to coping. >> right. >> the unemployment rate did go up to 10% during first term. today it's at 7.8% which is exactly where it was when he took the first inaugural address. the economy, democrats might object when i say this, but the economy more than republicans were the president's enemy in the first time. no money coming in, no room to maneuver. >> he's got one fight after another coming up, although we've put off one fight a couple months, and the president has to get over that in order to get to the rest of his agenda, and the question i have is whether the president is going to actually anger some of his liberal team by making those commitments on entitlement cutbacks on medicare, for example, in particular in order to get to the rest of his agenda and to david's point, to keep the economy chucking along. >> does he see that, david, as central though?

i mean, to so many people in the business community, it does seem central. if you don't put out a plan for entitlement reform, you can't get long-term growth in the economy, you srm can't, because there's too many unknowns and strangle holds that are going to hit the economy. does he see it that way or does he not see that risk? >> i think that's a really good question because at the end of the day i think the evidence suggests he wants to do modest things with entitlements, not deeply serious things. i think he's increasingly more interested in leaving behind a progressive legacy of a lot of support systems for people who were hurting in the country. he's more interested in that than i think than getting the deficits under control. >> one thing i will say four years ago before his first inauguration, he went to the waup editorial meeting and he talked a good game. he knows you need to put this country on a sustainable path not just for the economy but also just for dealing with our lock-term debt and american competitiveness. does he use his leverage like

clinton did with welfare reform to try to come up with an acceptable solution on this key issue because we're confronting the debt, the republicans in congress are focused on it. it's going to be an area where he will have some maneuverability in the next two years. >> does he have that leverage? on the one hand he's got a republican base that says give us those big entitlement changes or we won't give you anything but he's got a democratic party that's already going to think ahead to the midterm elections. you have new voices. senator elizabeth warren of massachusetts said i will not cut medicare. >> and chuck schumer said today that the senate would come up with its own budget. remember, the republicans chal elected them to do that. >> yes. >> who can imagine they're going to come up with big entitlement reform. >> they're not, but don't forget the president is on the record in the grand bargain that wasn't for some kind -- >> some. >> and here is the other thing, the president wants to do tax reform. republicans are over the tax fight. they figure they've done taxes. they're not going to do that, and that's a part of the president's calculation. if he can't get that, what does

he do on the spending side? not much. >> thanks very much to all of you. that's interesting. it does seem to many that tax debate is sort of done, republican or democrat. >> right. >> we had that fight, here we are. >> but the one thing the president does get is to choose what the country focuses on. he doesn't necessarily get to choose the results. he gets to choose what the country focuses on so we'll see. this is a big test for him to pick his priorities. >> that's why tomorrow becomes crucial. we'll learn a lot tomorrow. >> coming up, a rare look at a room inside the nation's capitol, a room that only a few people have ever seen. wow. would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye care experts at bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. now that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health.

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traditions going really unchanged for more than two centuries which is pretty amazing. senior congressional correspondent dana bash joins us now. you got a rare look at a room that almost nobody has seen. it's kind of need we have one of those. >> it's the old senate chamber in the capitol. we mentioned at the beginning of the show that there are 1600 people on this platform, 9 of them are members of the supreme court, and one of the rituals is they get together and walk over as one. it's the one of the few times that all three branchs of government are together in one place. >> reporter: inside a historic room on the first floor of the capitol an inauguration day tradition not talked about much. so this room is going to be a very important staging point for very important nine people. >> yes. the supreme court will come in here, the justices. >> reporter: the senate curator gave us behind the scenes access to this old supreme court chamber where the supreme court met in the 1800s. now justices use it to get dressed for the inauguration.

>> they will actually change into their robes here. we have a bathroom that they're able to use in order to freshen up. it's a great sense of history, and they really enjoy that. >> reporter: the history is rich. these aren't replicas. >> about 70% are original to this room. >> reporter: and for the inauguration of the nation's black president, it is a room steeped in symbolism and irony. >> i mean, this is where the dred scott case was decided on. >> reporter: the dred scott decision of 1857 declared no slave or slave's descendant could be u.s. citizens. it brought the country to the brink of the civil war. >> this is the desk that is were purchased by chief justice tawny for the court in the 1830s. >> reporter: justice tawny, a staunch supporter of slavery, wrote the dred scott decision and a few years later administered the oath of office to abraham lincoln. >> are you prepared to take the oath, senator? >> i am. >> reporter: on the very same lincoln bible president obama used at his first inauguration

and will again. this monday the current chief justice will prepare to administer the oath and along with his eight colleagues soak in the history of the room and according to the curator who accompanies them the moment. >> so we'll go behind here. this is where the justices can also go on inauguration day, and this is, of course, the bench. this is our wonderful historic benches. >> reporter: this is the berge. >> this is the bench where the justices came and sat. you'll see some of the different chairs that they used. it's not used for very many events at all. this is one of the very rare occasions where we have the chief justices -- or the justices come back. >> reporter: now, today is officially inauguration day, of course, and we saw two justices swear in the president and the vice president, and, you know, what's really interesting is that so much of this is mandated in the constitution. that they have to take -- the president and vice president